She explains: “It is a laugh, that first half-hour when you all meet up in the morning. The shenanigans could never be broadcast.

"Some of the stuff that is being said would make your hair curl. And are we as boozy as they make out?

"No, not really. Especially Carol McGiffin. I don’t think she even drinks in the week.”

Sally’s long-term partner, drummer Steve White, will be delighted about the change in schedule – as it means there will be less chance for Sally to embarrass him.

“I think Steve regretted things I said on the show but I didn’t.

"The girls started calling him ‘Saint Steve’ and he was, like, ‘You’ve made me sound a right idiot’.”

Sally, 39, is also returning to the small screen for the second series of Mount Pleasant.

The show is based around her character Lisa and hubby Dan – played by Daniel Ryan – as they suffer marriage wobbles.

Girl power: With the Loose Women team (Image: Pete Mariner)

It managed more than a million viewers on Sky last year and is clearly close to Sally’s heart as it was written by friend Sarah Hooper with her in mind for the lead role.

Lisa is regularly seen knocking back a bottle of wine with pals and worrying about her weight or whether Dan has a new female admirer.

“Lisa is Everywoman in a way to some degree,” says Sally. “She exemplifies those stupid problems women have that men don’t give a monkey’s about.

“All men want is to see their bird naked and that is it, they are fine. Dan encapsulates that, he doesn’t care as long as Lisa gets her kit off.

"Whereas us women are more worried about things like whether we’ve put on a little bit of weight.

“It would really take the pressure off if more ladies realised that is how men think. We put all this pressure on ourselves – and real men are not bothered.

“I am similar to Lisa in that I am very close to my family and very much in love with my husband.

"We have silly arguments about nothing like everybody does.

“But I do my own washing, I do my own cleaning so I don’t think I’m as lazy as Lisa or as spoilt.”

On Corrie: With comic Peter Kay (Image: Granada)

In real life, Sally and Steve are yet to walk down the aisle but despite this she still refers to him as her “husband”.

Explaining this, she says they are making plans for the big day.

“I do call him my husband and every year we say, ‘Right, we are going to get married’.

“And then I got pregnant and had the twins and then Mount Pleasant came along...

“We were going to get married this Dec­­ember but then my best friend got married so I thought, ‘We’ll leave it for now’. So I think we will get married next year.

“We are more or less married. A marriage with a small ‘m’ is about working together as a couple, bringing kids up, getting on, running houses and mortgages.

“We have gone the whole nine yards – we just haven’t had the day yet.

On Mount Pleasant: Sally relaxes with cast of the hit comedy

"For some women they have this dream of the Big Day but I have never had that because I show off every day.

“Do I have a dream place to get married? No, I have got none of that nonsense.

"I do like the idea of celebrating it in front of my family though, it is lovely.”

Sally balances her acting and looking after 22-month-old twins Victor and Louis. To help do this they have homes in Manchester and London, and move between the two depending on her filming schedule.

Like most mums, Sally finds it hard to leave her children behind in the mornings but “hubby” Steve sends photos of them to her phone when she is on set.

But Sally, who played Shelley Unwin in Corrie, admits that for her – and actress pals like Angela Griffin – work is a necessary escape.

Snared: Sally with her drummer partner Steve White (Image: Rex)

“I think women who stay at home to be full-time mums are unbelievable.

"That is the hardest job ever. I go to work for a rest, otherwise it would drive me crazy. I just couldn’t do it.

“Angela has a brilliant phrase for it – she calls it the Baby Cave. You go in the baby cave and all you talk about is if they are sleeping OK and how much sleep they are getting.

"If I didn’t have work I would go insane. Personally, as a woman, I need work.

"I need that other part of my life. I’ve got over the separation thing, too. It is hard but they still love me, so it’s all right.”

She might be scaling back on Loose Women but we will still be seeing a lot of Sally on TV. She will be back filming on ITV hit crime drama Scott & Bailey and then hopes Mount Pleasant will be back for a third series next year.

Thankfully, there is no sign of the roles drying up as she gets older but she thinks she is one of the luckier actresses.

“It is different for me,” she says. “I have never been some glam bird that if they get a bit ugly that’s it.

"If the wrinkles come, they opt for a younger girl. It’s outrageous. If you are not on a certain list or flavour of the month when you are 40 it is terribly hard to get work.

“You always see men in their late 40s cast with women in their early 20s, which drives me crazy.

“Some programmers seem to think that’s right but Sky concentrates on their women and strong female roles. It is important to celebrate good characters.”

* Sally stars in the new series of Mount Pleasant, which starts on Wednesday August 22 at 9pm on Sky Living HD.